Next year, the Cotton Bowl shifts to the Dallas Cowboys' new
stadium in Arlington.

Snead got the best of the more-heralded Harrell as the Rebels
(9-4) continued their resurgence under first-year coach Houston
Nutt, who guided Ole Miss to its first winning season since
2003.

"(It's) just extremely special to be able to come back home and
get a win," said Snead, a native of nearby Stephenville, Texas.
"It feels great. I'm from about an hour and a half from here,
so I had a lot of family and friends in the stands. (I) just
have to thank these coaches and my teammates for getting us this
win."

Ole Miss ended the season with its first six-game winning streak
since 2003, when Eli Manning led the Rebels to their last bowl
appearance.

"I'm so proud of them," Nutt said. "Our seniors, they bought
in, they took ownership. They represented the Ole Miss Rebels
in a first-class way."

It was a bitterly disappointing conclusion to a banner season
for Texas Tech (11-2), which started 10-0 and climbed to No. 2
in the national rankings before suffering a 65-21 loss at
Oklahoma on November 22.

Friday marked the Rebels' second upset of a top-10 team this
season. On September 27, Ole Miss shocked then-No. 4 Florida,
31-30, in "The Swamp."

"I wish we could keep this team and bring it back (next season),
the same team," added Nutt, who guided Arkansas to the Cotton
Bowl last season but didn't coach in the game after taking the
Ole Miss job. "You can't leave. Bring it back one more time."

Harrell broke Colt Brennan's record for career touchdowns while
becoming the first player in NCAA history to pass for 5,000
yards in multiple seasons.

Harrell threw four touchdowns and finished his career with 134 -
three more than Brennan's total at Hawaii from 2005-2007. He
completed 36-of-58 passes for a Cotton Bowl-record 364 yards.

However, Ole Miss did not allow any big plays and Harrell also
tossed two interceptions, with cornerback Marshay Green
returning the second one 35 yards for a touchdown to give the
Rebels a 31-21 lead with 12:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Texas Tech converted a pair of early turnovers into touchdowns,
grabbing a 14-0 lead on safety Darcel McBath's 45-yard
interception return for a score with 5:22 left in the first
period.

Once the Rebels shook off their early-game jitters, however,
they shredded Texas Tech's defense, which had no answers for
Mississippi's surprisingly potent offense.

"We had one of the best third-down defenses all year and we did
not stop them in third down,"

Texas Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said.

Ole Miss scored touchdowns on its next three possessions and
grabbed a 24-21 halftime lead on

Joshua Shene's 27-yard field goal with 1:08 remaining in the
half.

Snead completed 18-of-29 passes for 292 yards, helping the
Rebels amass more than 500 yards of total offense, including 347
in the first half.

"Coach Nutt came in and got us on the right track and got us to
believe," said Ole Miss running Dexter McCluster, who set a
career high with 190 yards in total offense.

Ole Miss extended its lead to 38-21 on Brandon Bolden's 17-yard
TD run with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Bolden rushed for 101 yards on only 11 carries.

"Some occasions, maybe somebody was trying to do too much,"
Texas Tech defensive end Jake Ratliff said. "I don't know what
it was. But some assignments were blown."

Harrell answered with a 12-yard TD pass to Edward Britton and
Texas Tech appeared to get a huge break when the Rebels' Enrique
Davis fumbled at the Red Raiders' 2-yard line with just over 10
minutes remaining.

However, Harrell was sacked in the end zone for a safety and
McCluster added a 4-yard TD run, giving the Rebels a 47-28 lead.